Tragedy

Did you ever count your blessings only after learning of someone else's sadness?

I wrote this letter to a friend a few years ago when her brother passed away. I used much of what Joseph Wirthlin said in a talk he gave during a general conference. We all have grief and sadness in our life. It's times like this that I'm grateful for my knowledge. The plan our Heavenly Father has given us makes sense and makes us complete. This doesn't mean we'll have picture perfect lives where nothing bad happens, it just gives us hope, peace and comfort that life here on earth is not all that we're living for.

Elder Wirthlin said is so eloquently when he explained dealing with his own grief and the loss of his wife. He gives some wonderful advice. It's a wonderful article and all I can say to her is Sunday will come. Here is an excerpt from the talk:

"When Christ rose from the grave, becoming the firstfruits of the Resurrection, He made that gift available to all. And with that sublime act, He softened the devastating, consuming sorrow that gnaws at the souls of those who have lost precious loved ones.
"I think of how dark that Friday was when Christ was lifted up on the cross. On that terrible Friday the earth shook and grew dark. Frightful storms lashed at the earth.
"Those evil men who sought His life rejoiced. Now that Jesus was no more, surely those who followed Him would disperse. On that day they stood triumphant.
"I think that of all the days since the beginning of this world's history, that Friday was the darkest.
"But the doom of that day did not endure.
"The despair did not linger because on Sunday, the resurrected Lord burst the bonds of death. He ascended from the grave and appeared gloriously triumphant as the Savior of all mankind.
"And in an instant the eyes that had been filled with ever-flowing tears dried. The lips that had whispered prayers of distress and grief now filled the air with wondrous praise, for Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, stood before them as the firstfruits of the Resurrection, the proof that death is merely the beginning of a new and wondrous existence.
"Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.
"But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.
"No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come.

In Loving Memory of Madison W*